Stressed Out

Preston Carter

Blog 7

            The most emotional student that I have dealt with was under a great deal of stress when she came in. I could tell that she was hurried as we sat down for our session. She came into the Writing Center only a few minutes before a large paper was due. She had just started working on it that morning, and she was worried about getting a second bad grade as her first paper had not received a grade that was to her standards. Due to the amount of stress she was under, I decided that I get right down to business and work through the paper with her. I think she appreciated this attitude, and we were able to cover a lot of ground quickly.

            We discussed the formatting issues; we talked about organizing, structure, and syntax issues. There were a few times where she was a bit angry while I took too much time explaining something, but in the end it was a productive session. She learned a lot during the session, and I left her with the bulk of the work to do on her own. She was a bright student and understood the concepts we discussed. At the point where I felt she could be more productive on her own and that we had already discussed the major questions she had with the paper, I told her that I thought the revision process would go faster with her working alone. I told her that this will also allow her the practice needed to instill some of this information in her memory.

            There are other types emotionally charged sessions which I have only heard about, but this session was actually very productive. I am the type of person who likes working hard after procrastinating; I become much more focused with an impeding deadline than I am otherwise, depending on the work. I was able to help this student work on her paper, and at the end of the session I suggested that she bring her paper by earlier in the writing process for a more relaxed session.